Garden of Eden
by HeavenlyDIO
Summary: Midoriya, struggling to control the unpredictable power of Black Whip, is brought to the Gardening Club in an attempt to bring him peace of mind. Maybe a certain member of the club can help him find what he's looking for?


**As a quick note, this takes place in an alternate timeline to **_**A Slightly Bitter Love Story**_**. The main timeline still features IzuMina, and I do have long term plans for that. However, IzuBara is my favorite ship, and I very much wanted to do something for it.**

"Jesus christ, kid, do you have some shit to work through." Shogeki said, watching as Midoriya crumbled to the ground, the large mass of writhing black tentacles retreating back into the boy's body. The two of them were standing within Gym Romeo, a large, empty building, meant to be used as an area to train high-speed quirks within a semi-enclosed environment. This kept them away from prying eyes, ensuring their privacy while they worked, since whatever Midoriya was training with was apparently supposed to be kept on the down-low. "I'll be honest, I barely even know where to start with all of this."

Izuku would have given his senpai a response had his wrists not been burning so hot that he was afraid they would burst into flames. The first year was curled up in a ball on the ground, trying not to die while Shogeki tried to figure out where their training was going wrong. After the last 2 hours of training with Izuku's _Black Whip_, the boy was unable to do anything other than summon a raging maelstrom of the black tentacles that he held no control over.

"Seriously, I get that whatever… _This_ shit is, I get that it reacts to your anger." Shogeki continued, "What I don't understand is why they sent you to me? I'm not exactly the most peaceful guy around, that'd probably go to… I dunno, Osore? You want me to call her over?"

"No, you don't have to." Midoriya groaned out, slowly getting to his feet.

"Who even sent you my way, anyway?"

"Hound Dog-sensei, he said you have a history with anger problems."

At this point, the second year student was getting visibly annoyed. "The fuck did he send you to me for?! It's his jo- He gets _paid_ to deal with this type of shit!" He angrily threw a water bottle at Midoriya, who couldn't raise his burning arms fast enough, causing the bottle to nail him in the chest and knock him to the ground again. The older student sighed, calming himself down and walking closer to Midoriya.

"Alright, let's get down to it then." Shogeki sat down in front of him, crossing his legs, "Where do you think all of this anger is coming from?"

Midoriya didn't have to think for very long. "Well, my- My quirk didn't manifest until less than a year ago, so everyone thought I was quirkless up until that point."

The older student hummed, "I can see where this is going. Has this been a problem for you before? Like, just thinking about that stuff, has it always pissed you off just to think about it?"

"No, this is new."

"Anything happen lately that might have fucked up your head at all?" The kid looked down and mumbled something, "None of that mumble crap, kid, speak up."

"… Melissa broke up with me." Izuku mumbled.

Shogeki raised an eyebrow, surprised by the boy's answer. "Well, yeah, that would probably do it." They sat in an awkward silence for a while, neither really knowing what they should say, until the older student cleared his throat. "Well, shit happens ki-"

"I just- I- What happened?!" Midoriya suddenly exploded, his face going red. "Where did it start going wrong! Was it _me_?! I don't even know!" He stood up, starting to pace around, swinging his arms in wide, angry movements. "I thought everything was going great! Did I forget something?! Wha- I do- I- ARGH!"

Shogeki followed suit, standing up and trying to get the boy back on track. "Alright kid, I get it. Calm down, let's bring it down a not-" Midoriya grabbed the front of his shirt, dragging him down to his height and bringing them face to face.

"_You don't tell me to calm down!_" The first year yelled, receiving only an angry glare as an answer. He realized what he was doing and let go of the older boy's shirt, backing off a bit. "I'm… I'm sorry, Shogeki-senpai."

The second year student brushed off his shirt, continuing to glare at his kohai. "First, you _do not_ touch me, get it?" Midoriya's answer was an ashamed nod, leading Shogeki to continue, "Second, you've clearly got a lot of shit that you need to work through, and while I might- _might_\- be able to help you learn to reign in your anger, I can't actually help you get to the root of the problem."

"Really?! Bu-Why not?!"

"My problem was never really anger per se, it was more of a problem of being extremely easily annoyed." Shogeki started, "I grew up in a quiet household, I got used to that quiet. Loud noises aren't my thing, and even a car alarm going off at night was enough to make me see red. At first, this wasn't too big of a problem, until the finals of my first Sports Festival, wher- Look, long story short, I damn near killed Dairiseki because his bombs were deafening to me compared to what I was used to."

"So Hound Dog helped you find a way to control your outbursts?"

"Not really, it was less 'control' and more 'increase my tolerance for loud noises'. He had me listen to softer, more classical music for weeks, slowly getting me used to being in louder situations."

Midoriya nodded, he could see how that would help. "So, did it work?"

"A bit, I'm definitely better off now than I was back in my first year. Still prefer it to be quiet, though. But that's not the point." Shogeki gestured to Midoriya, "We have different problems, meaning my solutions won't work the same for you as they did for me. We can still try it though, since I actually have an idea."

"Whatever it is, I'll do it, I'm willing to try anything. I can't… I don't like feeling like this… It feels bad, I can't explain it any other way, just… Bad."

"Alright kid, how do you feel about dirt?" Shogeki asked.

"… I'm sorry?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"How do you know about this club anyway?" Midoriya asked, to which Shogeki merely sighed heavily.

"It's run by those piece of shit noise machines that I'm forced to call my classmates. Doro's got soil manipulation, which helps when tilling the soil or whatever, and Konchu's ability to manipulate insects and spiders and such means that she can make sure that any pests that try to harm the plants don't get very far. Or something, I was ignoring them, so I might be misremembering."

Midoriya watched as Shogeki knocked loudly on the door to the greenhouse, before they both felt the ground shake beneath their feet. The first year looked down, eyes going wide as the earth beneath them opened up and swallowed them whole. They were pulled around through the dirt, the world going dark as dirt filled Midoriya's mouth, being thrown around back and forth before they were eventually spit back out. As the young boy quickly began spitting out dirt, he watched as a third person crawled out of the ground. Well, it looked less like she was crawling around in the dirt and more like she was _swimming_ through it. She wore long pants and a t-shirt, both looking to be made out of a canvas-like material instead of actual cloth, and her brown hair was in a short bobcut.

She turned to them, her face smothered in dirt, staring at them with a look of glee in her eyes. "Oooooh, Shogeki-kun! You know how much I enjoy it when you come and visit Doro-chan!" She sang out, a crazed smile breaking across her face. She started almost dancing in place, twisting and twirling as she made her way closer to them, bouncing from foot to foot. Midoriya started to panic, scrambling backwards away from the crazed girl, who looked like she was about to start drooling as stared at them.

Midoriya was brought out of his minor panic as Shogeki screamed, "Doro, shut the fuck up and get me Konchu!"

The girl, who Midoriya realized must be the "Doro" that Shogeki had mentioned earlier, suddenly had a complete change in posture, moving from a happy dance into a crooked, huddled stance. "But Shogeki-kun! You never come and visit Doro-chan! I just wanted to give you a huuuuug!"

"Get her now, you dirty bitch!" He yelled again, trying to get all of the dirt out of his hair.

Doro began to loudly cry, wailing as tears made tracks in the dirt covering her face. She flailed as she sobbed, falling back into the earth and disappearing from sight.

Midoriya was a bit dazed, trying to understand what was going on around them. A soil manipulation quirk? Just how strong was it? Was Doro-san related to Pixie-Bob in anyway?

"Oh. Hello Midoriya-san." The duo turned to look behind them, where Midoriya was surprised to find Shiozaki-san wearing clothing made out of the same canvas material as Doro-senpai was wearing. "I thought I had heard your muttering, but it was a bit overshadowed by the rather…" Her eyes narrowed in contempt as she looked at Shogeki, "_Uncouth _yelling I had heard."

"Hey Jesus Girl, how's the tree doing?" Shogeki asked.

Shiozaki's eyes narrowed a bit further, "… Poorly, thank you for asking, Senpai."

"Alright kid," The older boy slapped Midoriya on the shoulder, "Have fun, get to know your new club friend, I'm gonna go see if I can find Konchu myself." He walked off, leaving the two first years by themselves.

Midoriya turned to Shiozaki, bowing "Pl-Please take care of me, Shiozaki-san! I'm really not that good with plants, so anything you can teach me would be a great help!"

"I was unaware that you held any interest in botany. You seemed to be more of the 'training all day' type, like Tetsutetsu."

"I normally don't, but Shogeki-senpai recommended this club to help me deal with a problem I'm having. I don't want to be a hindrance, so please, teach me how I can help."

"I'm afraid you're giving me more credit than I deserve, Midoriya-san." Shiozaki had a faint blush on her cheeks, unused to the praise, "I merely do what Konchu-senpai asks of me, I don't know any more about plants than what my mother told me."

"Really?" Midoriya was surprised, "I had thought with your quirk, you would know all about plants. You didn't join this club to help you with your hero work?"

"Oh no, I had asked the staff if I could have permission to start a bible study club, although I was denied due to a lack of interested members." She looked a little bit upset and more than a bit insulted at the idea of a lack of interest in her faith. "I had joined this club at the behest of Konchu-senpai, who offered to tutor me should I ever need it."

"I apologize, Shiozaki-san, I didn't mean to assume." His quick apology made her laugh softly, a hand covering her mouth.

"So quick to apologise, you're going to give yourself whiplash." Again, Midoriya tried to apologise, only leading her to continue laughing.

As Midoriya continued his social struggles, further into the greenhouse, Shogeki finally managed to find Konchu Rika, the chitinous insect girl standing in a field of flowers, directing swarms of bees around to better regulate the pollination. She looked over, catching sight of him with her black eyes and frowning. She unfurled her membranous, insect wings and buzzed her way over to him, crossing her arms as she landed. As she always did when forced to interact with her larger classmate, she did not look particularly happy.

"Shogeki Akira. I thought I made it very clear that I had banned you from my greenhouse after your last visit, you man-sized bug zapper." She said, her voice sounding like a small chorus tiny insects speaking Japanese.

"And I told you to keep Doro on a shorter leash, yet here I am, fearful that I've now got dirt in my ruined eye socket!" A few bees began to angrily circle around him, forcing him to calm down lest he be attacked like last time. "Look, whatever, I brought you a new guy, take him off my hands and I'll leave."

"I can only suppose you've confused the gardening club with a nursery."

"This _is_ a nursery, why else would Doro be here?" He shot back, making her scoff.

"Always so rude, aren't you? But…" Konchu looked past him and towards the two first-years, taking her own assessment of the boy. "I _suppose _I can put him to some good use. The club could use a nice, strong boy to help move our larger pots."

Shogeki raised an eyebrow, "What is this _aura of thirst_ I'm feeling, you have Doro, bring it down a notch.."

The insect girl ignored him. "Now, what I would like to know, is why you bothered to bring to me a new member for my little club, Shogeki Akira?" Konchu asked, proving herself to be the smarter of the Nature Duo.

"I was just doing my part, you know, looking out for my fellow man." The sarcasm was laid on so thick that he might as well be lying to her, for as much as his actual words mattered.

"And this has nothing to do with the new mandate handed down by the staff, raising the minimum required club members from the previous 3 to the current 4?" She countered, smirking when she saw an annoyed look on his face.

"Fuck it, let's try this one. I owe you a favor, and I know that you've been trying to get your pincers into _any _of the first years other than the little Jesus Girl." He answered, nodding his head in Shiozaki's direction. "Best to get rid of three problems at once, it only makes sense?"

"Three problems?"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, Hazards over there-" Shogeki jerked his thumb in Midoriya's direction, who was still fucking up any attempts at a conversation with Jesus Girl, "-Needs to find himself some sort of inner peace, be on the lookout for any angry outbursts from him, have Doro restrain him as quickly as possible."

"How angry are we talking here?"

"Uhh, worse than Hone during this year's Sports Festival, but not as bad as the final exam I had to take with Sakana last year."

Konchu looked at him with as much surprise as she could. "Ooh, wow, I'll be sure to keep Saki around."

"Saki is here!" They both looked down at their feet, slightly unnerved as Doro's grinning face was sticking out of the ground. She crawled out of the dirt, taking her place next to Konchu, who cleared her throat.

"Now, Shogeki Akira, seeing as your presence here is no longer necessary, I'd like to ask you to leave." Konchu said, turning to her classmate, who raised an eyebrow in response.

"The hell makes you think I want to be here? This place is too hot for my liking, I'm going back to my room and going to bed."

"Already?" Konchu asked, pulling out her phone and checking the time, "It's far too early for bed! Look, it's only 4:30."

"Only 4:30 my ass, _The Bitch_ has been running me ragged for the last week and a half, and I finally got a proper break from her today, so you better believe that I'm gonna grab what little rest I can get."

"So when you say 'The Bitch', who are you talking about?" Konchu asked slyly, "Miruko, or your little 'project'?"

"Fuckin' either or at this point, they both make my life hell." Shogeki left with that, slapping Midoriya on the head as he passed by and justifying the continued ire of Shiozaki. As he massaged the back of his head, he was shocked by the return of the intimidating Doro from before, accompanied by who he had to assume was this "Konchu" that Shogeki-senpai had mentioned.

"Alright then," The bug woman began, "Hazards-kun, let's begin by telling me your real name."

"Uh, Midoriya Izuku, um ma'am." He bowed, trying not to stare. He had met plenty of mutants, with both Ashido and Shoji being a trusted friends of his, but Konchu-senpai looked like she belonged on another planet!

"Midoriya Izuku, my name is Konchu Rika, Rank 9 in Class 2-A." She then gestured to the excitable woman behind her, smiling as wide as humanly possible. "I assume you've already met her, but just to be safe, this is my partner, Doro Saki, Rank 11."

"Izu-kun!" Doro ran forward and lifted the boy into a bone-crushing hug, flailing him around wildly, "Oooooooh! Saki will have so much fun with yoooooouuu!"

Shiozaki tried to intervene, one or two vines nervously trying to separate them. "Doro-senpai, please! I must ask you to stop this! You're likely to scare him off before he even begins!"

"Saki, that's enough, drop him!" The brunette dropped him, the boy picking himself up and massaging his arms. Just being around the crazed older girl was going to get him sent to Recovery Girl at this rate! Konchu continued, pointing towards a cluster of cherry blossoms further into the greenhouse. "Some of the pill bugs have told me that the roots over with the blossoms are becoming tangled again, please go and straighten them out, all nice and neat."

It was with a quick salute that Doro once again sank into the ground, leaving just the three of them to themselves. Shiozaki was helping Midoriya get some more dirt out of his hair when Konchu cleared her throat again.

"Alright, then, Midoriya Izuku, let's see if you can do one of the easier tasks." Konchu buzzed, bringing him over to a small table at the front of the greenhouse, "Here we have a large container of soil that I've had Saki go through, removing all of the rocks. I've also taken the liberty of introducing plenty of earthworms and pill bugs to the mix, ensuring that the soil will contain plenty of nutrients." The hive mother then gestured to the large number of flower pots that were sitting on the table, as well as a smaller container containing many small saplings. "Your first task is to transfer these saplings into the larger pots, so that they may continue to grow healthy and strong."

The boy nodded, head held high. "Yes ma'am! I'll get started right away!"

"Be sure you don't mess up, it's not often that Shogeki, out of all of my classmates, decides to do me a favor, and it would be awful if you made him look bad for his recommendation. Or do mess up, that way I can throw it in his face next time he wants to call me disgusting for my looks."

"Oh, well, I'll just, you know, uh, try not to mess up. Um…" He really didn't know how to respond to that. He had thought class 2-A were odd, especially after the joint training sessions, but after meeting just a handful of his senpais he was beginning to give 2-A more credit.

As he got to work on the pots, Konchu pulled Shiozaki aside. "Please keep an eye on him, Shiozaki Ibara. You are well aware of the dangers that strong, clumsy men pose around delicate objects."

"I will make sure he does not break anything, senpai. Do not worry." The younger girl replied, moving closer to her year-mate and supervising his process. As she watched, she noticed that he was packing the dirt far too forcefully, and began to show him the proper way. Konchu kept her eyes on them from afar, her own words at the forefront of her mind.

"Hmm, clumsy men and delicate objects indeed. Let's hope they don't blow up like a certain couple I know of."


End file.
